Isn’t Spirituality Impractical?

Question: In our fast-paced modern life, isn’t spirituality impractical?

Answer: Not at all.

No matter how fast-paced our life becomes, the practical purpose of all our activities always remains happiness. Spirituality reveals to us the best form of happiness, a happiness that can never be taken away from us. The Vedic texts explain that as souls, we all have an eternal loving relationship with the all-attractive Supreme Lord. In loving and serving God, we can relish supreme and everlasting happiness; the more we love God, the happier we become.

Love for God is sometimes thought of as impractical because it directs our vision to the other world, the eternal spiritual world beyond the temporary material world. But this other-worldly goal does not make us impractical; rather, it builds the most solid foundation for living practically in this world. Just as when we switch on the master switch in a house, all the lights in the house automatically turn on, similarly, when we awaken our love for God, our love for all living beings automatically awakens. We realize that all of us are brothers and sisters in the one universal family of God. When we love all living beings, we no longer desire to exploit or manipulate them for our selfish interests. Instead, our love for God inspires us to love and serve each other. This creates a culture of warmth, trust and service, which makes practical life joyful. This contrasts sharply with the modern culture of alienation, suspicion and exploitation, which makes practical life joyless.

When we follow a genuine spiritual path, even in its early stages, it activates our latent spiritual perception. We intuitively realize that God is our greatest well-wisher and is in charge of our lives. So we understand that whatever happens in our life is sanctioned by him and is for our ultimate good, even if it seems all wrong to us. Without this realization of God’s benevolent orchestration of our life, the seemingly chaotic events of life often become impractical and impossible to manage. But equipped with divine vision, we no longer feel life to be an impractical, losing battle against a hostile world. Rather, we recognize difficulties as concealed opportunities for practical growth.

We may still fear, “All these benefits sound great, but is following a spiritual path to get these benefits practical?” Why not? All we have to do is associate with saintly people, study books of wisdom like the Bhagavad-Gita and chant the holy names of God like the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Thus the path is practical and easy and the results too are practical and beneficial. So let’s rid ourselves of this misconception that spirituality is impractical.